The Badgers Knock Off The Hoosiers

On Tuesday, January 26, the 19th ranked Indiana Hoosiers traveled to the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin to take on the Badgers. The Hoosiers came in to the game tied for first place in the Big Ten alongside the Iowa Hawkeyes. With a win, the Hoosiers could take back the lead of the Big Ten forcing Iowa to have to beat the Terrapins in Maryland to keep up. The Hoosiers were also on a 12-game win streak, having not lost since a December 2 defeat at Duke. One of those wins also happened to come at home against the Wisconsin Badgers.
The Badgers, on the other hand, were having a somewhat difficult season. After making it all the way to the NCAA Championship last year, the Badgers came up just shy against the Duke team that handed them their first loss earlier in that season during the Big Ten/ACC challenge. After losing that game, the Badgers lost many of their star players to the NBA including star forward Frank Kaminsky. Wisconsin tried repeating their success at the start of this season, but did not have much luck. They came into their game against Indiana on a 2-game win streak after defeating the struggling Michigan State Spartans and winning at Penn State, but they only had an overall record of 12-8, and were sitting at the bottom half of the Big Ten Standings. Regardless, both teams were looking to improve their win streaks in what they knew would be a competitive battle.
The game tipped off at 6:00 Central Time, and the Kohl Center was packed. Wisconsin won the tip-off and the game was under way. The first minute of play was pretty hectic starting with Bronson Koenig of the Badgers getting blocked by Thomas Bryant on a layup, followed by a missed three, a defensive rebound, and ending with a three-point basket by Hoosier Troy Williams. The rest of the half was pretty much a back-and-forth game, with each team taking the lead and the other going on a run to take it back. By the end of the first half, Wisconsin only held a one-point lead over the Hoosiers 35-34.
The second half was pretty much the same as the first, as both teams kept the game close unable to pull away and take a big lead. With 47 seconds left, after Nigel Hayes put in two big free throws, the game was tied with both teams scoring 69 points. On the next possession, the Hoosiers got exactly what their coach drew up. They were able to waste a majority of the shot clock and ended their possession with a nice layup from Yogi Ferrell. With only 27 seconds left on the clock, the home team Wisconsin Badgers knew that if they wanted, they would have the last shot of the game. They had the opportunity to take a three for the win, or if they so chose, they could make a two-point basket to tie the game and send it into overtime. However, they knew that a basket here would be absolutely necessary. With ten seconds left on the clock, the Indiana Hoosiers did exactly what they should not have done, they fouled a Badger and sent him to the line to tie the game. Even worse, they fouled a good free-throw shooter in Nigel Hayes. Hayes put in two big free throws, and the crowd went wild. The Hoosiers still had a whole bunch of time to win the game, however. Unfortunately for Indiana fans, Yogi Ferrell missed his jumper with four seconds left, and the game went to overtime.
During overtime, the home team grabbed the lead and never let it go. The Hoosiers stayed close, but they were unable to seal the deal against the Badgers and suffered their first loss to a Big Ten team 79-82.